EU processor handouts eyed

Food processors across the EU could face new levels of austerity after the European Court of Auditors put huge question marks against a €1.3bn annual “handout” they get from the EU.

This was the year that austerity caught up with the EU, with heads of state agreeing to cut the seven-year budget by 3.3% — the first reduction in the EU’s history.

Now, they have a new readymade target for further budget cuts — the rural development policy grants to improve the competitiveness of agriculture and forestry, made available to enterprises that process and market agricultural products.